Faded
by Dana1
Summary: Tommy's hiding something from the other rangers and he knows if they find out, nothing will ever be the same. Second fic in the Forget Me Not Series. First fic is Losing White and the third fic has yet to be posted, named Tarnished Gold
1. First Day Back

Title: Faded

Title: Faded

Author: Dana

Rating: PG-13 (To be on the safe side)

Warnings: Violence (the stuff you see on tv)

Summary: Tommy's hiding something from the other rangers and he knows if they find out, nothing will ever be the same.

Author's note: This is a sequel to my fic Losing White. This takes place a few days after the first fic ended. I highly recommend you read that fic first.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Power Rangers. I have been so out of the loop on the show, I don't even remember who owns them now.

"Tommy?" Charlotte Oliver asked as she knocked on the bedroom door of her eldest son. "It's time to get up."

"I'm awake." Tommy called from the other side of the door. He got out of bed and put on a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror and changed into a green t-shirt. He didn't want to be reminded of his time as the Gray Ranger but he wasn't ready to be the White Ranger. He brushed his hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. He walked out of his room and down the stairs to the kitchen. He sat down at the table.

Ryan Oliver put the newspaper down and stared at Tommy for a moment. "Would you like me to give you a ride to school?" He asked.

"No, Kim's already offered." Tommy didn't know what all the fuss was about. He had his own car, why would he need someone to give him a ride? It's not like he didn't know where the motel was.

"Eat up." Charlotte said placing a plate in front of both her husband and her son. She went into the kitchen to get a plate for her youngest son Cory and herself before sitting down at the kitchen table.

"You know Tommy," she started to say as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. "You don't have to go to school yet if you aren't ready. I know you'll be asked a lot of questions and it will be hard on you. Mr. Kaplan already suggested it."

"No I need to go back." Tommy said pushing his food around on his plate but not eating any. He wasn't hungry.

"You really need to eat breakfast." Charlotte said. "I don't think you ate anything for dinner."

"I'm just not hungry." He said getting up and scraping the plate into the garbage and then placed his dishes in the sink. He saw Kimberly's car pull up to the curb. "There's Kim." He said and raced out the door. He saw Aisha sitting in the back as he got in.

"You ready?" Kim asked.

"I guess." He said. "As ready as I'll ever be."

"It won't be so bad." Aisha tried to reassure him. No one will know you were Devon Cray."

Tommy didn't say anything. He knew there would be questions. They might not know he was Devon, but they'd know something was up since he was declared dead during the fire at the high school.

Kim reached over and squeezed his hand as she parked in the parking lot.

"Do you know what your first class will be?" She asked.

Tommy shook his head. "I'll need to go see Mr. Lally." Mr. Lally was his guidance counselor. "I'm no longer in the records so I'll need to pick new classes."

All three got out of Kimberly's car and entered the school. Tommy stood staring at the door that would had originally led into the motel lobby but this one was where the school secretary was and the main office. Tommy still found it strange.

People stared at him as he walked into the building. Not that he blamed him. Under other circumstances, he'd find it creepy himself.

Kimberly walked with him over to the secretary, Mrs. Meyers sat. She looked up at them in surprise. "Tommy Oliver?" She asked.

"Yes." He answered. "I'm here to see Mr. Lally."

"Of course." She said and then went and called Mr. Lally. "You may go in." She said and then smiled. "It's right through the door on the left." She said with a smile.

"Thanks." He walked into the office.

"It's good to see you Tommy." Mr. Lally said with a smile. "Everyone was glad to hear that you survived the fire."

"Thanks." Tommy said sitting down.

"I was able to find one of your previous schedules and have attempted to place you in the classes that you were in before the fire. We couldn't do that with all of your classes, but I think you will be happy." He said and handed him a schedule. "There are no lockers as I'm sure you suspect."

"That's okay." Tommy said not really caring about not having a locker.

The bell rang. Mr. Lally handed him a map that had his classrooms circled.

"Thank you." He said and left the room.

"Tommy!" A voice called as he stepped out of the office.

He looked around and found the source of the voice. Someone came up to him juggling several books and looking a little harried. He frowned in concentration.

"What's your first class?" The guy said.

Tommy looked down at the paper. "History with Applebee."

"I am also in that class. I'll show you."

Tommy stood there for a moment and cringed. What was wrong with him? He wondered. Why did it take him so long to know he was talking to Billy?


	2. I Don't Want It

Tommy walked into the classroom feeling more then a little uncomfortable

Tommy walked into the classroom feeling more then a little uncomfortable. His day had already started weird when he couldn't remember Billy. He really hoped that Billy hadn't noticed his hesitancy. He wished he knew what was wrong with him.

He stood at the front of the classroom feeling uncomfortable. Everyone was staring at him and whispering to each other. Maybe his mother was right. Maybe he wasn't ready to be back at school.

"Hello Tommy." Mrs. Applebee said coming into the room. "Welcome back."

"Thanks Mrs. Applebee." He replied quietly.

"You may take the seat behind John Evans." She said with a smile.

Tommy tried to return the smile as he took the seat behind John. He listened in class, his mind not really on the lecture. He kept looking out the window. The thing about being in a motel room for a classroom, the classes were smaller and you couldn't escape the fact that it had been a motel room. There may not have been a bed in the room, but not much else had been removed. Somehow it bothered him more then it had a few days ago.

He was glad when a timer went off.

"Read chapter 16 for tomorrow." She said and dismissed the class. "Tommy may I speak to you for a moment?" She asked.

Tommy looked at Billy and Rocky who were also in the class and shrugged. "Sure."

Mrs. Applebee waited for all of the students to leave before she spoke. "I know you are behind so don't worry about quizes and tests for awhile. Just try catching up. We are all very happy to see you."

"Thanks." He said with a smile. He walked out into the hall and was met by Jason Scott.

"Come on." He said and grabbed him by the arm. The bell rang.

"But I've got..." he looked down at his schedule. "Drama." Drama? He guessed that's what Mr. Lally meant about his classes.

"Don't worry." Jason said with a grin. "Kim's covering for you." He said and they went into the boy's room and waited till it cleared out before Jason started to push a button on his communicator. Tommy hadn't gotten a new communicator not that he wanted one. Jason stopped when he noticed the problem and grabbed his arm again.

Tommy held back a sigh. He really didn't want to be there. He looked up at Zordon. "I need to get back to class."

Zordon looked at him for a moment. "I KNOW. I WANTED TO SEE HOW YOU WERE DOING WITH ADJUSTING. WE HAVEN'T HAD A CHANCE TO TALK SINCE IT HAPPENED."

'Yeah I wanted to keep it that way.' Tommy added silently. "I'm adjusting okay I guess. It's hard to tell after one class."

Alpha handed him something. He looked down at the new communicator. "Thanks Alpha."

Jason handed him something and he shook his head and handed it back.

"I don't want it." He said not even looking at the White Ranger power coin.

"Tommy..."

"No Jason it's yours. I don't want the power coin."

"TOMMY IT IS YOUR COIN."

"I don't want to be a Power Ranger and you can't make me." He said and teleported out of the Command Center.

Zordon nodded.

"Zordon you can't just let him..."

"JASON HE IS CORRECT. WE CAN'T FORCE HIM TO BE A POWER RANGER. I HAD A FEELING HE WASN'T READY FOR IT."

"I'll go talk to him. Alpha can you send me to Tommy's location."

Alpha nodded and did so.

Zordon stared at the viewing globe and shook his head. He would need to talk to Tommy later. There was something about him that was bothering him.


	3. Not Giving Up

Tommy walked into the school just as third period bell rang. He looked at his schedule. He looked at the room numbers and frowned. Something didn't feel right and he wasn't sure what it was. It wasn't an unusual feeling for him lately.

He walked up the stairs to his English class with Mr. Harding. He remembered how he had been chewed out for falling asleep in class. He shuddered at the reminder of being Devon.

"Hey Tommy." A voice said as soon as he entered the room. He looked around till he found the source of the voice. He smiled still feeling a little out of sorts before turning away.

"You must be the famous Tommy Oliver. We seemed to have missed you last period." Mr. Harding said entering the room. Tommy snuck a peak at his schedule. He did have Mr. Harding for Drama class.

"Sorry I wasn't feeling well." He said which wasn't too far from the truth. After teleporting out of the Command Center, he had spent most of the rest of second period outside thinking about things and wondering why things couldn't just go back to normal.

"Ah yes as Miss Hart told me. Why don't you take the seat behind her?"

Tommy nodded and sat took the seat.

Jason slipped into the room. "Sorry I'm late."

Mr. Harding shook his head. "Another tardy Mr. Scott and I will have to give you detention."

"Yes sir." Jason said and took the seat next to Kimberly. "We need to talk." He said in a quiet voice to Tommy.

Tommy didn't answer he just took the book he was handed and took out a notebook and a pen. Tommy's eyes drifted over to the seat that was behind Jason. He had sat there now he was behind Kimberly. He sighed.

"Mr. Oliver is there something you would like to share with the class?" Mr. Harding asked.

"No." He said and sank back in his seat. He looked at the book Night that they were going to be reading. He opened it and tried to pay attention in class.

When the timer went off to signal the end of class he hurried out of the room before he could be confronted by Jason who he knew wanted to talk about his refusal to take the White Ranger coin back.

He looked at his schedule and saw he had study hall. He thought maybe the only person he'd see in that class would be Billy. He went down the stairs and to the room and took a seat.

"Hey look," someone said as soon as he came in. "It's a ghost."

Tommy stared at the person not remembering the guy's name as he sat down.

"Cut it out Skull." Rocky said.

Tommy put his head in his hands. It wasn't just his friends he was having lapses about. This was exactly why he couldn't be a Ranger. What if he forgot something in the middle of the battle? That could cost him and his friends dearly.

Zordon watched Tommy on the viewing globe. He had been very concerned for him since he came back and his refusal to take the coin told him that something was very wrong. He noticed Tommy was avoiding his friends but he supposed that would be expected after what had happened. However, he knew there was something else wrong and he wanted to know what it was.

"ALPHA PLEASE KEEP MONITORING TOMMY ON THE SYSTEM." He instructed his assistant.

"Yes Zordon." Alpha said.

Finster came into the room. He had been staying at the Command Center since he had helped Tommy escape with the help of Jason. He was leaving for Eltar later that day.

"Is there something wrong with Tommy?" He asked. He could plainly see something was troubling Zordon.

"I DO NOT KNOW AT THE MOMENT BUT I CAN SEE SOMETHING IS TROUBLING HIM."

"I could speak to him." He said. "On the moon, he only really trusted me."

"I WILL TELEPORT HIM UP HERE WHEN HE IS FINISHED WITH SCHOOL." Zordon said. It wasn't that long ago that he would have said no but things had changed. Finster may have been responsible for Tommy's memories being wiped, but he knew that maybe Rita's former henchman would be able to relate better to Tommy then he could.


	4. Confessions of a Former Ranger

Tommy was very happy when school finally ended for the day. He had tried very hard to avoid Jason but knew his luck would eventually run out. He thankfully didn't have any lapses in memory the rest of the day but was very uncomfortable with how everyone was staring at him.

He slammed his locker closed and that was when he remembered Kim had given him a ride home so he knew he was going to have to face Jason again. He decided to walk home.

Once he was a few blocks away from the school, he felt the familiar sensation of being teleported away. When his feet hit the ground he found he was in the Command Center. He looked up at Zordon.

"I haven't changed my mind Zordon." He greeted him.

"I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD TOMMY. I WAS HOPING YOU MIGHT FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE TALKING TO FINSTER ABOUT WHAT IS BOTHERING YOU."

Tommy stared at him for a moment. That was not what he had expected to hear from Zordon. He wasn't sure if he could talk to someone about his problems but he guessed he could give it a try. Finster was leaving soon.

"Where is he?" Tommy asked.

"HE'S IN THE ROOM HE'S BEEN USING." Zordon answered.

Tommy nodded and walked out of the main chamber and to a room off the right. He found Finster sitting on a cot reading something. "Finster?" He asked.

"Hello Tommy." Finster said setting aside the paper he had been reading.

"Zordon thought I'd be more comfortable talking to you." Tommy said with a shrug.

"I suggested it. I figured you'd be more comfortable with talking to me then your friends because I was there."

"You caused it." He said but there was no malice in his voice. It was more of a sad tone then anything else.

"That I did though I felt guilty for doing it when you started screaming." Finster looked away. "I'm just glad things turned out okay."

"You still leaving?"

"It's not safe for me to stay here. I am sure Zedd and Rita will be after me for helping you escape. Zordon's already found a place for me to stay so don't worry about me."

"I wish I could say the same thing." Tommy said leaning against the wall.

"Zordon told me about your refusal to take the White Ranger Coin. May I ask why?"

"You can't tell anyone this Finster." Tommy said. "I don't want anyone to know why."

"I promise." Finster said after a slight hesitation.

"I don't deserve to be the White Ranger anymore." Tommy said sliding down to a sitting position.

"You earned those powers Tommy." Finster said. He was telling the truth. He and Zordon had discussed Tommy and the other Rangers at length the past few days. "After what Rita and Zedd did to you, you earned those powers."

"I just don't think I deserve them Finster. I still feel the Gray Ranger powers. I know it's crazy since Zordon removed my connection to the coin, but after what I did as the Gray Ranger..."

"Tommy." Finster said with a slight smile. "The only thing you really did as the Gray Ranger was steal Saba and we got that back."

"I should have fought harder."

"There was nothing you could have done." Finster said quietly. "I think you need to talk to Zordon and your friends. I think this could easily be resolved. I'm sure none of them hold you responsible for what you did as the Gray Ranger."

"I know." He said in a quiet voice.

"There's more." Finster guessed.

Tommy nodded.

"What is it?"

"My memory is really messed up. It's always been messed up but this time I forget people. It'll come back to me but it's scaring me."

Finster nodded. "You are afraid it'll interfere with your fighting."

Tommy nodded.

"Tommy I really think you should tell Zordon about this."

"I can't." Tommy said standing up.

"There's something wrong and they need to find out what's causing this."

"I can't face them." Tommy said and left.

Finster sat there. He was trying to decide what would be the best thing to do in this situation.


	5. A Surpise Attack

Notes: Thanks to Ditena who told me something I neglected in Losing White.

Tommy opened the door and walked into his house. He thought he could go up the stairs without being detected but his mother stuck her head out the door and said, "Tommy! I didn't hear a car pull up."

"I walked home." Tommy said which was sort of true.

"Well go wash up. Your Uncle Josh and Aunt Stephanie are coming over for dinner tonight. They haven't seen you since..." She trailed off unable to finish that line. Tommy knew what she meant though. They hadn't seen him since before his 'death'.

Tommy smiled tiredly. He wasn't hungry but he knew if he had said that to his mother she would get worried. He remembered the conversation they had at breakfast about how he wasn't eating. He went up the stairs to his bedroom to put his schoolbooks away. Something on his desk caught his attention. He picked it up and then threw it across the room. How did that get here? He wondered. It was his student body card that said Devon Cray on it. He knew for a fact that that was still on the moon in the room he had been using.

He had a pretty good idea who had placed it in his room. His life really sucked at the moment.

He looked in the mirror and for a moment, he didn't see himself reflected back. He saw a teenager his age with short blond hair and green eyes staring back at him. He shook the image out of his mind as he turned away from the mirror. It was no wonder no one had realized it was he. He certainly didn't look like him. He remembered when Finster changed him back; he had been shocked by what he saw. He had believed he was Devon at that time and thought Finster was a traitor. Finster had asked him if he trusted him and he did. He wondered what things would be like at the moment if Finster hadn't helped him escape the Moon. He shuddered. He really didn't want to know.

"Tommy?" Ryan asked knocking on the door. Tommy looked up in surprise. His father didn't usually come home this early. "Jason's on the phone for you."

"Tell him I'll talk to him tomorrow." Tommy said making a show of opening his math book to do his homework. "I've got a lot of homework to catch up on."

Ryan nodded and left.

Tommy stared out the window as the sky started to turn to dusk. He closed his book and lay on his bed and fell asleep.

"He's asleep." Charlotte Oliver said an hour later to the group of teens that were standing at her door.

"Thanks anyway Mrs. Oliver." Kimberly said barely holding back her disappointment.

"Can you tell him we were here?" Rocky asked.

"Of course." Charlotte said with a smile. "Goodbye." She said and closed the door.

"He's avoiding us." Jason said as they walked away from the house. "I called earlier and he was doing homework."

"He didn't even meet me and Aisha after school." Kim said with a frown.

"He seemed afraid at school today. He barely spoke one word to anyone." Adam said.

"I agree." Billy said. "He seemed very apprehensive about being there. I'd be surprised if he was in attendance tomorrow."

Jason took the coin out of his pocket and stared at it. "I don't know what we can do." Jason said with a sigh.

"There's not much you can do." A voice broke into their conversation. They turned around to see Goldar, Rito, and a group of Tengas.


	6. Not Dealing WIth It

Tommy sat up when he heard a noise outside his house

Tommy sat up when he heard a noise outside his house. He looked at the clock and realized it was almost eight in the evening. He got up and looked out the window and saw that his friends were in Ninjetti from fighting Goldar, Rito, and Tengas. He stood there debating on what to do. Jason was hit hard from behind by Rito and wasn't getting up very quickly. That's when he made his decision. He may not want to be a Power Ranger at the moment, but he couldn't stand by and let his friends get hurt. He threw on a sweatshirt with a hood and a baseball cap. He just had to hope no one was watching his front door. He hurried down the stairs ignoring his mother who called after him and out the door.

"Well Gray Ranger, you are home." Goldar greeted when he landed in the middle of the fight.

"I'm not the Gray Ranger anymore Goldar." Tommy said glaring at him. "I'm not any kind of Ranger. I'm just not going to allow you to hurt anyone."

"Tough talk from a powerless Ranger." Rito said coming up to him.

Tommy kicked him hard. Rito staggered a few steps back.

Keeping his attention on Rito, left him vulnerable. He was grabbed from behind and found a sword only inches from his throat.

"We could end your misery right now." Goldar said.

"I don't think so Goldar!" A voice yelled from behind them. Goldar turned slightly not moving the sword one inch and they were both facing Kimberly who held her power bow. "Let go of Tommy Goldar."

Goldar's grip loosened slightly and Tommy grabbed the arm with the sword and pushed it away. He moved out of the way barely in time for Kim to shoot off an arrow.

Tommy stood there staring. He felt a shiver go down his spine. He had forgotten how Kimberly had accidentally shot him with an arrow.

He backed away from the fight. He wasn't afraid of Kimberly it just felt wrong to be there at the moment. He wasn't a part of this team anymore. He felt the familiar feeling of being teleported away.

On the moon Rita and Zedd were viewing the fight. They were both satisfied how the fight was turning out. They were sure they wouldn't win this one but they had gotten the answer they were looking for.

Zedd sent a message ordering Goldar and Rito back to the moon. When they returned neither were happy.

"Ed we had almost defeated them." Rito said.

"It's Zedd you idiot and no you didn't. They would have beaten you like they do every time. We got the answer we were after. The former White Ranger has lost his self confidence he's nearly broken." He said with a laugh. "We have won."

Tommy was not happy when he landed in the Command Center. He didn't want to talk to Zordon. Twice in one day was enough when he wasn't a Power Ranger anymore.

"Zordon I need to get home." Tommy said facing his former mentor. "I've got homework."

"TOMMY AVOIDING THE PROBLEM ISN'T GOING TO SOLVE IT." Zordon said. "I OBSERVED THE FIGHT AND NORMALLY YOU WOULD HAVE HAD NO TROUBLE WITH GOLDAR. WHILE I REALIZE YOU WERE NOT MORPHED THAT HAD NOT STOPPED YOU BEFORE."

"I was caught off guard." Tommy said.

"FINSTER TOLD ME WHAT YOU TOLD HIM."

"Finster told you?" Tommy asked his anger rising.

"WE WOULD NEED TO RUN SOME TESTS. THE MEMORY PROBLEM HAS ME WORRIED."

"You and me both." Tommy said surprised by his own tone. The fight must have gotten to him more then he thought it would. "Look I have school tomorrow can we check it after school?" Or never. He silently added.

"THAT IS FINE TOMMY."

The Rangers all appeared in the Command Center.

"You okay Tommy?" Kim asked stepping up beside him and putting a hand on his shoulder."

"I'm fine." He lied. "Zordon can you teleport me home now?"

"Wait." Billy said. He handed him a communicator that had been lying on a console. "Take this."

"I'm okay Billy." He said pushing it back to him.

"TOMMY I THINK IT WOULD BE A WISE DECISION FOR YOU TO WEAR IT IN CASE YOU NEED TO CONTACT SOMEONE."

"There is such a thing as a phone." Whoa. Tommy thought to himself. I've never talked to anyone like this before. He took the communicator and put it on. He vowed to take it off as soon as he was home. "I'm sorry." He said and teleported out.

Jason watched him with a grim expression. "Something's not right."

Zordon didn't answer. He would tell the Rangers about what he knew when he knew more about it. "RANGERS I SUGGEST GOING BACK TO YOUR HOMES. WE WILL CONTACT YOU IF ANYTHING ELSE COMES UP."

Rocky looked at the time and sighed. "I promised my mom I'd be home 20 minutes ago." He said and was gone followed right behind him by Adam, Kim, Billy and Aisha.

Jason stayed in the Command Center. "What's really going on with Tommy?" He asked. He had suspected there was something else going on that neither Zordon nor Tommy were willing to discuss.

"I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN I HAVE FIGURED THAT OUT." Zordon said with a sigh.

Jason knew he wasn't going to find anything else out so he teleported home.


	7. Drama King

Tommy got up the next morning feeling a little more then uncomfortable about returning to school that day. He supposed it would be easier since it would be the second day and not the first. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. He set his books down on the counter.

Charlotte Oliver set a plate of pancakes in front of him.

Tommy pushed it away. "I'm not hungry." He declared.

"Tommy you need to eat something." Her hand and went to his forehead.

"Mom I'm not sick I'm just not hungry."

"You didn't eat dinner last night because you slept right through. I think I need to schedule an appointment with Dr. Jackson."

"Mom I swear I'm fine. I'm just not hungry. I promise I'll eat something at lunch." He looked at his watch. "I need to go." He said getting up and grabbing his schoolbooks off of the counter. Today he wasn't waiting for anyone to give him a ride.

"I'm really worried about him." Charlotte said to her husband who had taken Tommy's plate and started eating from it. "He won't eat and I think he may have had a nightmare last night."

"Charlotte he's had a hard time what being kidnapped and forced to be a Gray Ranger. You saw how he jumped out to help the Power Rangers. He wants to make up for it. I'm sure he'll be fine if we give him his room." He stood up. "I need to get to work. I have an early meeting about the Owen case. We may finally have a breakthrough." He leaned down and kissed his wife before leaving.

Charlotte sighed. She went and made an appointment for Tommy with Dr. Jackson. She didn't agree with her husband's thinking and she was going to get to the bottom of this.

At school Tommy still saw that everyone was staring at him. He grew uncomfortable by it. He didn't suppose he'd ever be used to being stared at. He somehow got through history class without any problems. Though he heard his stomach start to growl. He'd have to get something to eat during the ten-minute break between second and third period. He hadn't been hungry but now his body seemed to think it was.

He made his way to his drama class and entered the room. He saw Kimberly had held a seat for him and he went over to her and sat down.

Mr. Harding began the class by handing out a scene. "Mr. Oliver." He said.

Tommy looked up.

"At the beginning of this course I ask everyone to stand up and introduce themselves in a game called hot seat. This is to get everyone used to being in front of a group of people."

"Uh sure." He said and stood up. He walked over to a seat that Mr. Harding was pointing at. Just before he got there everything went funny to him. Things started to swirl in front of him.

"Oh My God!" He heard someone call before everything went black.

Kimberly jumped up from her desk and hurried over to Tommy who had fainted.

"Mr. Hubbard." Mr. Harding said turning his attention to one of the students. "Please go inform the nurse what happened."

Mack Hubbard hurried out of the room.

Tommy opened his eyes. "What happened?" He asked.

"You fainted." Kim said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I think so." Tommy said sitting up but became lightheaded.

Whitney Stone, who was a nurse at Angel Grove High School, came into the room. She knelt down next to Tommy. "Can you stand up?" She asked as she checked his pulse.

He made a move to stand up and everything got fuzzy again.

"Sit still I've called an ambulance." She said.

Tommy groaned. Things just were getting worse. He had really hoped that things would start getting better but they weren't. He just wanted things to return to normal. He could hear some whispers and knew this would be all over the school by lunch. Just what he needed.


	8. You Aren't Fine

Charlotte Oliver's phone at Angel Grove Savings and Trust started to ring as soon as she got back from a meeting.

"Charlotte Oliver." She answered.

"Mrs. Oliver?" A female voice asked. "This is Nurse Whitney Stone. I'm a nurse at Angel Grove High School. Your son Tommy fainted."

"What?" She asked in surprise. "Is he okay?"

"He was taken to Angel Grove Hospital." She answered.

"Thank you for calling." She said and hung up the phone. She picked up the phone and called her supervisor, Marlon Brown. "Marlon I need to take the rest of the day off. Tommy's been taken to the hospital."

"Of course Charlotte." He answered. "I hope everything's okay."

"Me too."

She called Ryan on the way to her car on her cellphone.

"Lieutenant Oliver." He answered.

"Ryan it's me. I just got a phone call from the school. Tommy fainted and has been taken to the hospital."

"I'll meet you there." He said and hung up.

Charlotte worried the whole drive to the hospital. Was there something seriously wrong with Tommy? She wondered. Maybe she shouldn't have let him go to school today after all. Why did she wait to take him to the doctor? She hated every single red light she came to.

When she got to the hospital she rushed to the reception desk. "My son Tommy Oliver was brought in here after fainting at Angel Grove High."

The nurse looked at her computer screen and said. "He's in exam room 3." She said without looking back at her.

"Thanks." She said and hurried away. Ryan was just entering the hospital and they both went into the exam room together. They found Tommy sitting on a gurney.

"Hi." He said quietly.

"Has the doctor said anything?" Ryan asked.

"They took some blood and said he'll be back in a few moments." He sighed. "I just want to go home. I'd even go back to school if it meant getting out of here."

Charlotte patted his hand comfortingly. "I'm sure everything's fine."

A woman came in. "You must be Mr. and Mrs. Oliver." She said with a smile. "I'm Dr. Iris Crittenden." She turned her attention back to Tommy. "Tommy when's the last time you ate anything?"

Tommy stared at her without saying anything. When was the last time he ate something? He honestly couldn't remember. "I don't know." He answered truthfully.

Dr. Crittenden nodded. "That seems to be the cause of your fainting. Low blood sugars."

"I was going to eat something at lunch." He said quickly.

"I should have made you eat something before you left this morning." Charlotte said shaking her head.

"Is there a reason you aren't eating?" Dr. Crittenden asked.

"I haven't been hungry." Tommy said with a shrug.

"How long has this been going on?" She asked looking concerned.

"The past couple of days. Ever since..." He trailed off.

"Ever since what?" Dr. Crittenden asked.

"Never mind." Tommy said quickly. "It's been happening the past few days. I was hungry at school before I fainted. So maybe it's getting better?" He said.

Dr. Crittenden shook her head. "I'd like to schedule you an appointment with Dr. Patrick Durden. He's a leading psychologist with eating disorders."

"Wait I don't have an eating disorder." Tommy stared at the doctor in shock. "Not being hungry doesn't make me sick."

"He can also help with any other things you might want to talk about."

"Thank you for the advice doctor." Ryan said shaking her hand. "We'll think about it. May we take Tommy home?"

"Of course." She said looking at the empty cup of electrolyte boosting liquid that a nurse had given him when he was first brought in. "Tommy if you have any more fainting spells, please call your doctor. I do suggest starting with small meals at first."

"Thank you doctor." She said as the three of them left the room.

"You know." Ryan said as they got to the parking lot. "She may have been off on the eating order thing but Tommy I think you do need to see a psychiatrist."

"But I'm fine." He said as he got into his mother's car.

"You aren't." Charlotte said quietly. "You haven't been fine since before the fire."

Tommy couldn't argue with that.


	9. Talk

Tommy heard the beeping coming from his communicator but refused to acknowledge it. He supposed if he was asked about it he could say he wasn't supposed to be up and around. He knew what it was about. He told Zordon he could run tests on him today and he had wished his former mentor had forgotten.

"What's that beeping?" Cory asked coming into the room.

"It's my alarm clock." Tommy lied. "I messed up when setting it I guess."

Eventually it stopped.

"Mom said you were sick." Cory continued as he picked up something off of Tommy's desk. It was Cory's Gameboy system. Tommy had forgotten he had brought it into his room. He had thought it was his until he saw the game in it.

"I'm okay."

Cory didn't say anything just left the room with his Gameboy.

Tommy shook his head. Now he was being questioned by his five-year-old brother.

* * *

"STILL NOTHING?" Zordon asked Alpha.

"No he's not answering his communicator." Alpha answered. "Do you want me to teleport him here?"

"NO." Zordon said. They had witnessed Tommy fainting at school and had been more then a little alarmed by it. Zordon knew there was more going on then Tommy seemed to want to admit. Zordon worried about his former White Ranger. He didn't think Tommy would accept the powers again. There was nothing he could do to convince him to take it. It was Tommy's decision and no one could make it for him.

* * *

"Hello Jason." Charlotte said opening the door.

"Is Tommy home?" He asked.

"He's up in his room." She said allowing him into the house.

"Thanks." Jason said hurrying up the stairs. He knocked on the door.

"Come in." Tommy called.

Jason walked into the room and found Tommy at his desk doing homework.

"What are you doing here?" Tommy asked as a greeting.

"Just came to see how you are doing. Kim said you fainted in Drama class."

"I'm okay." Tommy said. "My parents aren't letting me go back to school for awhile but I'm okay."

"Tommy what's going on with you? You won't take the Power Coin, you won't let Zordon run tests and now you are fainting?"

"I'm giving you the coin. You deserve it more then I do."

"Tommy I stepped in because we thought you were dead. They are your powers not mine." He took the coin out of his pocket and set it down on Tommy's math book. "The Rangers need you Tommy."

Tommy just pushed the coin back towards Jason. "I'm finished being a Ranger."

"So that's it? You are just going to let Rita and Zedd win?" Jason was really glad that the Olivers were downstairs. He knew they knew about Tommy being the Gray Ranger but that's about all they knew about Tommy's Power Ranger history.

Tommy didn't answer.

"Come on Bro talk to me."

Tommy sighed as he turned to fully face Jason. "I can't be a Ranger." Tommy said in a soft voice.

"Why can't you? Everyone wants you back."

"I can't be a Ranger because my memories are really screwed up." There he said it. He didn't feel better by saying it. He saw the look on Jason's face so he continued. "I forget people. First day beck I forgot Billy and Skull. What if I forget Goldar or something during a fight?"

"Tommy..." Jason wasn't sure what to say. This wasn't what he had expected to hear. He expected Tommy to talk about his lack of self confidence for why he couldn't be a Power Ranger anymore but not this.

"I'm serious Jason." He put the coin in Jason's hand. "Take this."

"You should tell Zordon about this."

"Finster already did."

"You told Finster?" Jason asked surprised.

"Yeah. Look Jason just take the coin."

"Tommy?" Charlotte asked coming into the room. "Dinner's ready. Jason you are more then welcome to stay for dinner."

"No I better head home. Hope you feel better Tommy." Jason said and left.

Tommy watched him go. Now what happens? He wondered.


	10. No Longer an Observer

The next day Tommy went downstairs for breakfast. He was glad that his appetite had returned to normal. If it hadn't, he knew his parents would have forced him to eat.

"I'm glad to see you aren't sleeping in." Ryan said setting the newspaper down. "Just because you aren't going back to school for awhile doesn't make it a vacation."

That was when he saw all of his books were on the kitchen counter.

"I'm sure he already knows that." Charlotte said coming into the room with a plate of waffles. "Tommy I've scheduled you an appointment with Zack's mother this afternoon."

Tommy sat there wondering why he would need to see Zack's mom. Then he remembered that Patricia Taylor was a psychiatrist. "Mom I don't need to see a psychiatrist. I don't have an eating disorder like that doctor said I did. I'm fine."

"Tommy you are not fine." Ryan said looking at his watch. "You had a nightmare last night that woke the whole house."

Tommy's face reddened in embarrassment. He didn't really remember the dream other then his parents shaking him awake.

"You can talk to her about your time on the moon." Charlotte suggested.

"I can't talk to her about that." Tommy said.

"Why not?"

Because I'm not a Power Ranger anymore so it doesn't matter. Tommy thought but instead said, "I just want to forget it."

Ryan got up and kissed his wife on the cheek. "Come on Cory. I'll give you a ride to school today." He said and they both left the room.

"Tommy just go this one time. If you don't think it helps, I will not make you go again."

"Fine." Tommy said. He always had a hard time saying no to his parents.

* * *

"Well Tommy," Patricia said as soon as Tommy was seated. "I'd just like to say how happy I am to see you are alive."

"Thanks Dr. Taylor."

"Please call me Patricia. I insist all of my patients call me that." She said with a smile. "Now your mother said you've been having nightmares about your time on the Moon. Do you want to tell me about that time on the Moon?"

"No." Tommy said looking away. "I don't want to talk about it."

Patricia looked at him for a moment. "I understand it must have been a very scary experience being held prisoner on the Moon and then being forced to be the Gray Ranger." At Tommy's expression she said, "your mother told me about it. Don't worry that fact will not leave this room."

"Thanks."

"I must admit this is an unusual situation. I've counseled people who have been abducted before but not at this level. I've never talked to anyone who's been abducted by monsters."

"I just don't want to talk about it." Tommy said crossing his arms.

Patricia watched him for a moment. "How are things going at school? I bet it's hard trying to get back into the swing of things and the kids talking about you behind your back."

"Yeah." Tommy said thinking that was a safe subject to discuss. He had always liked Zack's mom. She was so nice to all of Zack's friends. "My parents pulled me from school for awhile."

"Maybe things will be better when you return." She said encouragingly.

"I guess but I doubt it."

They talked about a lot of things but nothing that really touched what had happened. When the appointment was over Tommy didn't feel better.

* * *

On the Moon, Rita and Zedd were observing the former White/Grey Ranger with interest. Both were thinking it was time they stopped watching and do something.

Lord Zedd smiled as he saw that Charlotte had dropped Tommy off at the Youth Center but instead of going inside he walked down towards the lake.

"Rito go attack the former Ranger." He instructed and then sent them and half a dozen Tengas.

"Are we going to capture him?" Goldar asked.

Zedd let out a dark laugh. "No not yet." He then handed something to Goldar. Goldar took it and looked at Zedd questioningly. "Just aim it at Tommy."

Goldar nodded and left.


	11. Who's Telling the Truth?

Tommy watched his mother drive away before walking down the path to the lake. He hadn't been down there since he got back and that was his favorite place to go to be alone and at the moment that's what he wanted to be.

He stood on his favorite rock staring out at the lake. It was a pretty warm winter day even for Southern California standards and there were quite a few people hanging out by the lake.

A flash of light behind him caught his attention. He turned around to see Rito standing there with a group of Tengas. Exactly what he didn't need. He looked at his wrist and realized that he had left his communicator at home. He just had to hope that Zordon was still monitoring him and knowing Zordon, he more then likely was. He got into a fighting position.

The Tengas attacked him. He kept knocking them back but it seemed like they just kept coming. He heard a familiar sound and turned around. His eyes got huge. No way. How did they get that? He wondered.

He hit the ground hard as Rito took advantage of his diverted attention.

Tommy got painfully back to his feet and barely moved out of the way as Goldar fired the weapon that was believed to have been lost at him.

"This look familiar Tommy?" Goldar said holding it up.

"Where'd you get it?" Tommy demanded.

"Where'd we get it?" Goldar said laughing. "You gave it to us."

Tommy stood there completely shocked. There was no way he could have done that. He remembered everything he did back then, didn't he? Now he wasn't sure what he remembered.

"You gave it to us just like you gave us Saba."

"You are lying." Tommy said charging at Goldar.

"I don't even think you were completely brainwashed at the time."

Tommy hit Goldar as hard as he could before Goldar knocked him back with his own sword.

"Leave him alone!" A voice yelled.

Tommy looked back and saw the other Rangers morphed and standing there poised to attack.

"Oh my God." Jason said. "Is that?"

"It's impossible." Billy said. "It's been gone since he was sent to the 17th century."

"It is the Dragon Dagger." Goldar said holding it up for them to see it better. "Ask Tommy where we got it from." Goldar said with a laugh, as he, Rito, and the Tengas were teleported away.

"We need to get back to the Command Center." Adam said looking around and seeing that everyone had fled the lakeside area when the monsters had appeared.

Kim grabbed Tommy's hand arm as they all teleported back to the Command Center.

"I don't know what Goldar was talking about." Tommy said as soon as they landed. "I never gave them the Dragon Dagger."

"But bro your memory hasn't been very good since you got back." Jason said.

"Zordon when did the Dragon Dagger disappear?" Aisha asked.

"WE HAVE NO RECORDS OF WHERE IT WENT SINCE THE DRAGON ZORD WAS RETURNED TO THE OCEAN." Zordon said.

"Wait." Kim said. "Goldar said you gave it to them. How do we know he meant you?"

"THAT IS A VERY GOOD POINT KIMBERLY." Zordon said. "IT VERY WELL COULD HAVE BEEN YOUR CLONE."

Tommy looked at them despair clearly written on his face. "But that's not what Goldar said. He said I gave it to them just like I gave them Saba."

"They are just messing with your mind." Rocky said.

Tommy shook his head. He wanted to believe that he really did but he wasn't sure if he could ever trust his memories. If he blanked on certain names, whose to say he didn't blank on certain memories.

"TOMMY I WOULD LIKE TO DO THOSE SCANS NOW." Zordon said.

"I told my mother I'd be outside of the Youth Center in ten minutes." Tommy said. It was a lie because he was afraid of what he'd find out.

"TOMORROW THEN."

"Fine."

"ALPHA TELEPORT TOMMY BACK TO THE YOUTH CENTER." Zordon instructed.

Tommy was gone in a flash of white light.

"They are lying aren't they Zordon?" Adam asked.

"I CAN NOT SAY FOR CERTAIN. IF FINSTER WAS HERE WE COULD ASK HIM BUT HE IS OUT OF COMMUNICATION RANGE AT THE MOMENT. SO THE ONLY OTHER PERSON WHO WOULD KNOW IS TOMMY AND HE DOESN'T REMEMBER."

"I'm going to try to talk to him again." Jason said.

"I'll go with you." Kimberly volunteered.

Jason nodded and they both teleported out.


	12. Distraction

"Tommy?" Jason asked as he and Kimberly walked closer to Tommy who was sitting at a table at the Youth Center.

"Hey." Tommy said without looking up from the smoothie.

"I thought your mother was picking you up." Kim said sitting down in the stool next to him.

"Not for another hour." Tommy admitted.

"Oh." Kim said looking back at Jason.

"Let's go somewhere and talk." Jason said looking back towards the door.

Tommy stared at the smoothie.

Jason wasn't going to give him an excuse. "Hey Ernie can we get a to go cup for Tommy's smoothie."

"Sure." Ernie said and returned with a Styrofoam cup that he handed to Tommy.

Tommy took it and emptied the smoothie into it. It didn't look like he didn't have any more excuses for why he couldn't talk to them.

"Come on let's go to the park." Kim said.

Tommy didn't say anything on the way to the park and Kim and Jason didn't try pressing him until they got to the park. They sat down at a picnic table.

"What's going on bro?" Jason asked.

"Nothing."

"What's with the coin?" Jason asked. "I mean you've never given up like this. When you were losing your Green Ranger powers, Zordon and Alpha had to almost sit on you to keep you from joining us in a fight. Now you won't take back the White Ranger powers."

"I don't want to be the White Ranger."

"Why not?" Kimberly finally spoke up.

"It's not mine. It's Jason's."

"And I'm giving them back." He said holding it towards him. "I only took the powers because Zordon asked me to. I never expected to keep them when you came back."

"I can't take it not after what I did." Tommy said looking away.

"All you did was give Saba to Zedd and Rita." Kimberly reminded him gently. "And Finster gave it back. No one blames you for that since you weren't in control."

"I'm not in control of anything anymore." Tommy said with a sigh. "I can't even trust my own memories. I could have given them the Dragon Dagger even if I don't remember doing so. What if I forgot who Goldar is in a fight?"

"I don't think that..." Jason started to say.

"We don't know. Until my memories are under control I don't want to be the White Ranger or ever again."

"Tommy..." Kimberly started to say but there was a flash of light.

"Not again!" She said seeing the Tengas. "When are Zedd and Riga going to give up?"

"Do they ever?" Jason retorted. "It's Morph..."

Jason started to say but his morpher was knocked out of his hand and went flying into the play area.

Kimberly reached for her own morpher but a Tenga grabbed her arm.

Tommy saw Rito had teleported and was heading for Jason's lost morpher. Tommy ran after him not wanting the walking skeleton to take the coin.

"Stop right there Rito!" Tommy yelled. He may not have wanted the powers but he couldn't stand there and let Rita and Zedd get their hands on it.

"What are you going to do about it?" Rito asked holding up the morpher.

"Ki yah!" Tommy yelled kicking his arm and watched the morpher go flying and land under the swings. It was a good think the kids had all ran when the Tengas appeared.

"Ooh! I know one!" Rito said. "Sayonara!" He said and kicked Tommy in the chest knocking him to the ground.

Tommy painfully sat up. He had whacked his head against the slide.

Rito let out a chuckle. "You used to be more fun to fight."

"I can still fight." What am I doing? Tommy wondered. He had just a few minutes ago told Jason and Kim he didn't want to be a Ranger and yet he kept joining the fights. He was letting Zedd and Rita egg him into this and he wasn't sure for what purpose.

Rito disappeared.

Tommy looked around wearily wondering what was going on. That was abrupt and didn't make much sense. He saw Jason's morpher was still on the ground and he picked it up.

He went back to where the main fight was and swore under his breath something he very rarely ever did and especially not in front of Kim. This was a distraction.

He held Jason's morpher in his hand. They may not have gotten the morpher, but they got Jason.


	13. Return

Tommy paced while Alpha tried to get him to stand still in order for him to examine his head injury. He didn't think it really needed any examination since all he did was hit his head against a slide.

"Why did they take Jason?" Kimberly asked looking up at Zordon.

"I DO NOT KNOW KIMBERLY." He answered truthfully. "BILLY HAVE YOU GOTTEN A LOCK ONTO JASON YET?"

"Unfortunately no. All I can see is that he's no longer on Earth." Billy said looking up from one of the computer screens.

Adam picked up the White Power Ranger coin that Tommy had placed onto the console when he and Kimberly had teleported back to the Command Center. "What about Jason's coin Zordon?"

Zordon hesitated slightly before saying, "TOMMY YOU WILL NEED TO BECOME THE WHITE RANGER AGAIN."

"No way." Tommy said. "I told you I don't want to be the White Ranger again."

"Tommy we need you." Kimberly said placing a hand on his shoulder. "We can't save Jason without you."

Tommy looked at his watch. "My mom must be wondering where I am." He said. "Alpha can you teleport me home?"

Alpha looked at Zordon questioningly. "His head injury is minor."

"I STILL NEED YOU TO COME UP HERE TOMORROW MORNING TO RUN THOSE SCANS."

"Fine." Tommy said preparing to be teleported.

"OH AND TOMMY I WILL TELEPORT YOU HERE MYSELF IF YOU DON'T COME."

Tommy sighed and nodded. "I'll be here at nine?" Zordon nodded.

Alpha teleported him home.

"THE REST OF YOU SHOULD GO HOME ALSO." He said turning to the other Rangers. "I WILL CONTACT YOU IF WE FIND ANYTHING OUT ABOUT JASON."

They all teleported home at the same time to do their homework, chores, or anything else they would normally do at that time of day.

* * *

"You are really worried about Tommy aren't you?" Aisha asked Kimberly later that night as they were studying.

"Yeah. He just doesn't seem himself anymore." She shut her math book. "You weren't there when he was the Green Ranger, Aisha, but back then he would never back down from a fight. I mean yeah he did help whenever there was a fight but the powers meant so much to him. I wish we knew what else Rita and Zedd did to him."

"And what they are doing to Jason." Aisha said. "Don't worry Kim. Zordon will find out what's wrong with Tommy." Aisha said trying to reassure her best friend.

Kimberly sighed. She couldn't' concentrate on her homework. One of her oldest friends was captured and her boyfriend wouldn't really talk to her about anything that had happened or what was bothering him. She closed her books and decided to finish the homework during homeroom.

* * *

"You imbecile!" Zedd was yelling. "You were not supposed to leave the morpher on Earth and you were definitely not supposed to have Tommy get it!"

"I'm sorry Ed but you teleported me away before I could get it."

"It's Zedd you idiot!" Zedd yelled.

"You want me to go get it?"

"No!" Zedd yelled. "It is too late for that."

"Fine you don't have to yell!" Rito said stomping away.

"What are you going to do with the White Ranger?" Goldar asked.

"You can go down there and fight him in. Don't injure him. We need him for something else." He looked down at the coin that he was holding it in his hand. "The Grey Ranger will return.


	14. Altered

Notes: Thanks to Jules for the ideas.

True to his word, Tommy teleported to the Command Center at 9:00 AM mostly out of fear that Zordon would teleport him up himself. When he arrived at the Command Center, he found a cot off to the side with a machine next to it. Tommy grew apprehensive about this.

"PLEASE LIE DOWN TOMMY." Zordon instructed.

Tommy did so.

"Move all the way back." Alpha instructed. Tommy did so. He heard a soft buzz as a machine was turned on. "Don't worry you won't feel anything."

Tommy lay there wondering what exactly they were going to find. It seemed forever before he heard the machine turn off and he sat up.

Alpha started entering the results into the computer. Tommy looked up at Zordon nervously.

"IT'S WORSE THEN I THOUGHT." Zordon said after examining the results.

"What is it Zordon?" Tommy asked fear gripping him. This was exactly why he didn't want to have the scan done.

"THE SCAN OF YOUR BRAIN IS NOT NORMAL. I WISH WE HAD DONE A SCAN WHEN YOU CAME BACK. THERE ARE ALL KINDS OF BLOCKS AND ALTERATIONS TO YOUR BRAIN CHEMISTRY. EITHER FINSTER WASN'T TELLING THE TRUTH ABOUT WHAT THEY DID, OR THEY DID SOMETHING WITHOUT HIM KNOWING. IT IS MOST LIKELY THE LATTER."

"So what does this mean?" Tommy asked.

"IT MEANS THAT I WILL NEED TO CONTACT FINSTER AND ASK HIM TO RETURN."

"You can't do that Zordon. Rita and Zedd are after him for helping me escape." Tommy said even though he was having a hard time grasping what exactly was wrong.

"I KNOW TOMMY." Zordon was silent for a moment. "HOWEVER, TO BE ABLE TO FIX THIS WE NEED TO SEE IF FINSTER KNOWS WHAT RITA AND ZEDD HAVE DONE."

Tommy looked at his watch. "So what happens now?"

"I WOULD ADVISE THAT YOU BE EXTRA CAUTIOUS." Zordon instructed. "DO NOT GO ANYWHERE ALONE. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT RITA AND ZEDD ARE UP TO OR WHY THEY CAPTURED JASON." Zordon paused for a moment. "TOMMY UNTIL WE FIND OUT WHAT ALTERATIONS WERE MADE TO YOUR BRAIN CHEMISTRY, I CAN NOT PERMIT YOU TO BE THE WHITE RANGER."

Tommy nodded barely holding back a smile. At least that was one thing he could agree with. "May I go?" He asked.

"YES. I WILL CONTACT YOU IF I FIND ANYTHING ELSE OR IF I HAVE ANY QUESTIONS."

Tommy teleported out of the Command Center and landed in his room. He didn't have to worry about anyone seeing him because his parents had left for work and Cory was at school.

* * *

"Ooh! Ooh!" Rito said turning away from the telescope, "sis!"

"What is it Rito?" Rita asked coming into the throne room.

"You wanted to know when Tommy was home. Well he just got there."

"Finally you did something right. Goldar!" She yelled. Goldar came into the room. "I want you to go down and keep him busy until we are ready to send the Gray Ranger down."

"Can I go?" Rito asked.

Rita sighed. "Yes you can go." Both minions left.

Lord Zedd came into the room. "He is ready." He informed his wife.

"Tommy just got home."

Zedd let out an evil laugh. "It is time we finish off Tommy Oliver for good."


	15. Broken in More Ways then One

Tommy sat at his kitchen table with his books open deciding he should probably start his homework. There was nothing on TV but Soap Operas and talk shows. He had just started his math homework, when he heard a noise outside. He got up and went to the window and pulled back the blinds. What he was greeted with made him jump back in alarm.

He was staring right at Rito who was peering at him.

Rito started to knock on the window. "Can we come in?"

So much for staying out of trouble. Tommy thought as he started to reach for his communicator. He stopped knowing his friends were all in class and couldn't just leave the school. He couldn't teleport up because he didn't know what Rito and Goldar would do to his neighbors. He hurried up the stairs and to his room. Hew on the same hooded sweatshirt he had worn the last time there had been an attack at his house.

He hurried out the door and kicked Rito and that was when he noticed Goldar.

"What are you doing here?" Tommy said getting into a fighting stance.

"Keeping you busy." Rito answered.

Tommy was pretty sure he didn't want to know why they were keeping him busy.

"Why don't you just give up Tommy?" Goldar taunted. "You are no match for us." He said with a sneer.

"I'll never give up."

"Then why don't you morph?" Goldar said continuing to taunt him. "Oh wait you wouldn't take the coin. What's the matter? Afraid of what you will do with it?"

"That's not it at all. Ki yah!" He said and kicked Goldar his hood falling back. Rito grabbed him by his ponytail and pulled him off.

That hurt. Tommy thought as he rubbed his head where he had been yanked. He fought them as well as he could but he was having trouble. He didn't know whether it was because he didn't have a morpher anymore or something else. He was having trouble ignoring the taunts but they hurt.

Bam! Tommy looked over and saw that one of the planters had been destroyed. He spun around and stopped. He was stunned.

"No way." He said shaking his head not believing what he was seeing. That couldn't be the Gray Ranger. He had been the Gray Ranger. Then he remembered he had lost the coin.

"What's going on here?" Tommy asked still unsure of what he was seeing.

The Ranger just simply fired at him causing Tommy to fall to the ground.

"J...Jason?" Tommy asked as he got painfully off of the ground. He had to be seeing things. That could not be his best friend standing there with a sword aimed at him. He had used that sword on Jason when he had stolen Saba.

"Hey bro." He said in a cold voice. "Feels like a little de ja vu doesn't it?"

"You have to fight the spell." Tommy said hoping to break through to Jason.

"I don't know what you are talking about Tommy." Jason said coming closer his sword still pointed at him, his grip never wavering. "Come on fight me." He said.

Tommy couldn't believe his luck today.

"I'm not going to fight you." Tommy said holding his hands up defensively.

"Then you will die." Jason said his voice as cold as ice.

* * *

Kimberly was trying as hard as she could to pay attention during 3rd period science class but she was finding it impossible. All she could think about was Jason who was missing and Tommy who wouldn't talk to her about what was troubling him. She was almost afraid of what Zordon's scans would find.

"Kim." Aisha hissed.

Kim turned to her best friend looking confused.

"Miss Hart," Mr. Hogan, her science teacher said.

"Yes?" She asked looking up in confusion.

"Would you please give us the answer to question five on the homework assignment?"

Kimberly stared at her teacher blankly then opened her notebook to where her homework was. Crap she never did get to finish her science homework. "Uh..."

There was a knock at the door.

Mr. Hogan answered the door and there was a runner from the office who handed him a slip of paper.

"Kimberly, Aisha, and Rocky you are wanted at the office.

They gathered their books. When they stepped out they found Billy and Adam waiting.

"We need to get to the Command Center." Billy said in a quiet voice.

"Why?" Aisha asked.

"Tommy's been attacked again."

* * *

Tommy struggled to his feet once more. He was having a hard time defending himself without attacking Jason. Every part of his body hurt and he was sure he had at least one cracked if not broken rib from when he hit the side of his house. His arm had a deep cut from the sword too.

"You give up." Jason said standing in front of him.

"No." Tommy said.

There was a flash of light and something appeared in his hands. He looked down and saw his morpher. He didn't have a choice.

"It's Morph..."

He felt a pain go through one of his fingers as Jason tried to take the morpher away from him with the sword. Tommy didn't even want to look at his hands. He dropped the morpher on the ground and all he saw was blood all over it.

He and Jason locked eyes for a moment before Jason picked up the morpher and something else. Tommy could easily see the morpher was damaged but he wasn't quite sure what else was there.

He felt himself being teleported away. He passed out from shock when his feet hit the Command Center floor.


	16. Repairing the Damage

Notes: Just a little note, the part where the Rangers were in school was happening at the same time as the end of the fight was.

Adam and Rocky rushed over to Tommy who was unconscious. They placed him on the cot that he had been laying on that morning.

"What about his finger?" Aisha asked as Alpha quickly started wrapping up Tommy's hand.

"ROCKY AND ADAM I WILL NEED YOU TO GO DOWN AND RETRIEVE TOMMY'S MISSING FINGER."

Rocky made a disgusted face but didn't argue as he and Adam teleported out.

"Is Tommy going to be okay?" Kimberly asked looking hopefully up at Zordon. She had been glad she hadn't been chosen to go after the finger.

"WE WILL HAVE A BETTER IDEA WHEN ADAM AND ROCKY FIND TOMMY'S FINGER."

"Zordon," Billy said as he watched the viewing globe. "What if Jason took the finger?"

"Why would they want the finger?" Kim asked.

"Because Tommy needs the finger." Billy answered.

"I've sedated Tommy Zordon." Alpha informed him. "But he's losing a lot of blood."

"WE WILL HAVE TO HOPE THAT ADAM AND ROCKY FIND THE FINGER QUICKLY." Zordon's voice didn't mask how worried he was.

"I just can't believe this is happening." Kimberly said with a sob. It seemed like the last few months had been nothing but a nightmare. First the fire, then the Gray Ranger, then Tommy coming back but not the same at all, and now Tommy had lost a finger because of Jason.

There was a flash of light as Adam and Rocky returned to the Command Center. Rocky was cupping something very carefully in his hand.

"We've found the finger Zordon." Rocky said holding it out to Alpha.

"YOU ALL SHOULD GET BACK TO SCHOOL." Zordon instructed. "I WILL CONTACT YOU IF THERE'S ANYMORE TROUBLE."

"Okay Zordon." They all said and went back to school.

"HOW IS THE REATTACHMENT GOING ALPHA?"

"Very well Zordon. I think he shouldn't suffer any long term problems."

Zordon breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

Meanwhile on the moon, Rita and Zedd were glowing over their accomplishment.

"This is going better then we planned!" Rita exclaimed happily. "Jason damaged the morpher and cut off one of Tommy's fingers."

"He should have brought the finger here but it's okay." Zedd agreed. "The Rangers won't have a White Ranger." He let out a laugh.

* * *

A flash of light appeared in the Command Center.

"I came as soon as I could." Finster said approaching Zordon. "What's this..." He started to say when he saw Tommy lying on a cot. "What happened?"

"JASON HAS BECOME THE NEW GRAY RANGER AND HE ATTACKED TOMMY. HE CUT OFF HIS FINGER AND BROKE A FEW RIBS. THAT IS NOT WHY I HAVE CALLED YOU BACK. PLEASE LOOK AT THE COMPUTER READOUT."

Finster looked down and read them. "Zordon whose brain scans are these?" He could easily tell there was something wrong with what he saw.

"TOMMY'S."

What did Zedd and Rita do? He wondered. "This isn't good." Is what he said to Zordon however.


	17. A Surprise Guest

When Tommy came to he knew there was something wrong. His body hurt everywhere. He tried to remember what had happened and it came back to him in a rush. Rito and Goldar had attacked him and then Jason came down. He remembered trying to morph, and Jason's sword went through the morpher. There was something else that happened that was still fuzzy.

"Tommy you are awake!" Alpha said coming up to him.

Tommy sat up and cringed at the pain he felt in his side. He put a hand to his ribs and that was when he noticed his hand. His finger was carefully bandaged and splinted. There was blood showing through the bandage. "What happened to my finger?" He asked.

"It was cut off." Alpha informed him. "I was able to reattach it. You may have trouble using it for awhile but it should be fine."

Tommy nodded. "Thanks Alpha." He turned to Zordon who had been watching them. "What am I going to tell my parents? I don't think any lie I can come up with will be believable."

Zordon thought about it for a moment. "I THINK IT MIGHT BE BEST TO TELL THE FULL TRUTH."

Tommy thought about that for a moment. They did know he had been the Gray Ranger so he supposed it wouldn't be too hard to tell them he had actually been a Power Ranger before that.

"ALSO ALPHA AND I ARE WORKING TO FIX THE MORPHER THAT WAS DAMAGED BY JASON. WE HOPE TO HAVE IT FIXED IN A FEW DAYS."

"I had to morph." Tommy said quietly. "I don't want to be the White Ranger and I don't think I will be much help with my finger in the condition it is in."

"I UNDERSTAND TOMMY. I SHALL TELEPORT YOU HOME NOW."

Tommy nodded and readied himself for being teleported. He landed in his bedroom. When he went down the stairs he stopped in shock.

Jason was sitting at his kitchen table where Cory was doing homework.

Tommy stood there with his mouth hanging open. He had planned to tell his parents everything but this was not how he planned to do it.

"Jason what are you doing here?"

"Hey bro." Jason said. If Tommy hadn't known better, he would have thought nothing was wrong. But he did know better, and had to get Jason out of his house quickly.

"Get out of my house." Tommy ordered.

Jason just scoffed at him.

"Tommy!" Charlotte said as she entered the kitchen. "I can't believe you just said that."

"I'm sorry mom but Jason is not welcome here."

Jason smirked at him. "I don't know what you are talking about. Your mother was the one who let me in." His hand traveled to his pocket.

Tommy grabbed him with his good arm and hauled him to his feet and out of the kitchen. His ribs were killing him as he did so but he ignored it.

"You can do whatever you want to me, but leave my family alone." He never thought he'd ever have to say that to his best friend who had been a part of his family for years. He was sure his mother was going to ream him for his lack of manners but she had no idea what was going on.

"I plan to." He looked at Tommy's hand and smirked. "I see they reattached your finger. I guess I will just have to cut it off again." He reached into his back pocket as if he was going to take his morpher out but stopped. "I'm needed." He was gone in a flash of light.

Tommy walked back into his house and was met by his mother.

"Tommy know I have raised you with better manners then that." Charlotte said

"Mom trust me when I say you can not let Jason into the house. I'll explain when dad gets home."

He went back up the stairs hoping his mother didn't notice the pained expression on his face. He really didn't expect to find Jason in his kitchen. Under a spell Jason could be very dangerous. He knew it better then anyone.


	18. It could have been worse

Tommy made his way down the stairs later that night deciding now would be a good time to talk to his parents. His father ha to work late because a case he was working on broke and they were able to make arrests.

"You need to talk to him Ryan." Charlotte was saying as Tommy entered the room. "He threw Jason out of the house."

"That's what I want to talk to you about." Tommy said. His parents turned around to stare at him. "When I came back I told you I was the Gray Ranger but I didn't tell you the full story."

Ryan nodded. "I always suspected there was more going on then you let on."

"A week after we moved here I was captured by Rita Repulsa and forced to be her Green Ranger. I was under a spell and attacked the Power Rangers. They broke the spell and offered me a spot on the team."

"Why did you never tell us?" Charlotte asked placing a hand on his shoulder.

"What's wrong with your finger?" Ryan asked noticing the bandages and splint on his hand.

"I'll get to that." He told his dad before turning to his mother. "We are not supposed to tell anyone about being a Power Ranger. I'm not exactly sure why but it's a rule of Zordon's. I guess it's to keep our families from worrying. After losing the Green Ranger powers I became the White Ranger. Then against my will I became the Gray Ranger."

"But how can you have been the White Ranger?" Ryan asked. "We saw the White Ranger when you were the Gray Ranger and also when you ran out to fight those monsters."

"That was Jason."

Charlotte's brow furrowed in confusion. "But then why did you throw him out of the house."

"Jason's under a spell. That's what happened to my finger. When I was trying to morph, Jason tried to take the morpher from me with a sword and cut off my finger. Don't worry, they reattached it."

"Oh good." Ryan said sarcastically. "I don't suppose this is a hospital that did it?"

"No."

"After we are done with this conversation we are going to go to the hospital to check that finger. Now, I don't like the idea of you being a Ranger. You have enough issues going on with this Gray Ranger thing."

"In more ways then one. Uh," he really didn't want to tell his parents this but he knew he had to. "It was discovered that Rita and Zedd had changed some of my brain chemistry. There's all kinds of blocks that Zordon, he's my mentor, hasn't been able to figure out."

"Damn it." Ryan swore. "Well that's something else we will have to have checked out while we are there."

Tommy sighed. He didn't think the hospital would know what to make of him.

"Might as well pack a bag. I'm sure they'll want to keep you overnight." Charlotte said. "I'm going to call Stephanie and see if she can come stay with Cory." She hurried off to call her sister-in-law.

"Tommy," Ryan said turning back to him. "I..." He seemed to be at a loss for words. "Never mind we will talk about this later." He said and left the room.

Tommy sighed. This was not going to be fun.


	19. Homecoming

Tommy was not one bit happy as he lay in the hospital bed. They had already performed surgery to make sure his finger had been reattached correctly but they weren't sure if he would have full use of his finger again. He was, however, being kept in the hospital for tests to determine how much damage had been done to his brain, and what kind of effects it would have on his overall health. To sum it all up, he was a mess.

He wasn't quite sure how much of the story the doctors believed. He wasn't quite sure how much his parents believed. He did, however, know that when he was released from the hospital, he would get the lecture of a lifetime. He was not looking forward to that at all.

"Hey!" Aisha said entering the room. Her face was almost completely hidden by the flower arrangement that she was carrying. She set the flowers down before hugging Tommy. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay." He said with a shrug. "They have me on a drug, so I feel no pain." It was a lie. His hand hurt but at the moment he didn't feel his reattached finger and that scared him. He needed full mobility of his hands though he supposed he could still do karate. Thank goodness he wasn't a Ranger anymore.

"Rocky and Adam are teaching a class, Billy's in the Command Center, and Kim will be here in a few. She's picking up a surprise. Aisha said with a huge smile on her face.

"A surprise?" Tommy asked in confusion. "What kind of surprise?"

"You'll see." She promised. "Mr. Kaplan wanted me to give you more homework."

Tommy looked at his right hand that was wrapped tightly. Writing was not going to be easy.

"He'll probably give you an extension." Aisha said quickly. "Most everyone knows you lost a finger."

Tommy sighed inwardly. It was something else for everyone at school to talk about. First was his 'coming back from the dead', then fainting, and now his finger. He was pretty sure the news about his brain would get around the school also.

The door opened and Kim stepped in. "Great! You are awake!" She stepped aside to let someone, or rather someones, into the room. It was Trini and Zack.

"Hey man." Zack greeted. He walked in and gave him a hug that was followed by a hug from Trini.

"How are you doing?" Trini asked.

"I'm okay at the moment." This time it wasn't a complete lie. He was really glad to see his friends. He hadn't seen them since they went to the Peace Conference. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We came to see you!" Trini said with a smile. She saw the questioning look on Tommy's face and said, "our parents bought us plane tickets."

"You guys didn't have to come all this way. I'm fine."

"We've been wanting to come back." Zack said. "The last time we were here was for your funeral. We thought it was only fair to come here now."

A nurse came into the room. "I'm sorry to interrupt but Tommy needs his rest. He has tests starting tomorrow."

"But my friends just arrived from Switzerland. Can't they stay a little longer?" Tommy pleaded.

"I'm sorry Tommy but it's doctors orders. They can come see you tomorrow."

"It's okay Tommy." Trini said leaning down to hug him. "We are here for a week."

"Yeah man." Zack said as he clasped Tommy's good hand. "You'll see so much of us, you'll be begging us to leave."

"Never happen." Tommy said before hugging Aisha and kissing Kim. He watched them leave.

The nurse stood there a moment checking his vital signs before she too left the room.

Tommy lay back down on the bed trying to ignore the pain in his hand. He gave up and hit the call button. A few minutes later a nurse appeared at the door.

"Yes Tommy?" She asked.

"Can I get something for the pain?"

She picked up his chart. "You are most definitely due one. I'll be right back." She said and left the room. She came back, administered the shot, and left.

Tommy tried to relax. He even fell asleep. He was only awoken when he felt someone grab his arm. He opened his eyes expecting to see a nurse but he didn't. Standing there was someone he didn't recognize but it was definitely not a nurse.

"What are you doing here?" He asked. He didn't think asking who they were would be a good idea since it might be someone he should know and the person would be hurt.

The person let out a dark chuckle. "I know your parents have security watching out for me but they forgot one thing." He held up his hand. "You remember this don't you?"

Tommy groaned inwardly. It was his worst dream come true. He forgot someone that he couldn't afford to forget.

Standing there was Jason.


	20. A Nightmare Come True

Tommy looked around the hospital room trying to find some kind of weapon to defend himself with. He never really thought he'd ever need to defend himself against Jason.

"You are trapped Tommy." Jason said as he put the Power Coin back into his pocket and then reached for something that he had hidden behind his back. It was Saba.

Jason raised the sword high above his head.

"Tommy!" A voice was calling. "Wake up. You are having a nightmare!"

Tommy's eyes flew open and he saw his mother standing there looking very concerned. A nurse was also there holding an empty syringe.

He looked around the room quickly to make sure Jason wasn't lurking in a corner or something and relaxed. It had all been a nightmare.

"That sedative should take effect." The nurse said as she made a note on Tommy's chart. "You okay now Tommy?" She asked.

Tommy was feeling his body relax. "Yes." He said.

"Okay well if you need another just use the call button." She said and walked away.

Charlotte sat down in the chair next to his bed and smoothed a piece of hair out of his face. She was looking at him in concern. "Are you sure you are okay?"

"I am." Tommy said though his voice shook a little. "I'm just glad it was a nightmare."

Charlotte looked out the door before saying; "I bet you've had a lot of nightmares as a Ranger."

Tommy nodded. Just none of them felt that real. He didn't want to discuss his dreams with his mother so he quickly changed the subject. "How are dad and Cory?"

"They are doing fine. Cory's at pre-school and your father's working. They'll be by later."

Tommy looked at the clock. It was 4:30. His mother usually worked until six. "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I'm taking leave for the rest of the week."

"Mom I'm okay. You don't need to."

"Of course I do." Charlotte said with a smile.

Tommy gave up on trying to convince his mother he didn't need her here. His mother sometimes joked that he had her stubborn streak even if he was adopted.

* * *

Zedd stood in the throne room watching the conversation between Tommy and his mother. He wished he could have seen the kind of dream Tommy had. He would have liked to capitalize on it.

He decided he still could.

"Goldar and Rito get in here." Zedd yelled.

The two henchmen entered the throne room.

"Go down to Earth and attack Angel Grove High School." He ordered and then sent Tengas down along with them.

"Jason." He called.

Jason came in. "Yes Lord Zedd?" He asked bowing.

"Go down and attack the Hospital the former Ranger is in. Better yet, go into his hospital room. I want him finished off." He ordered.

"As you command." Jason said and left the throne room.

Zedd sat on his throne and watched.


	21. Coming Out of It

Jason teleported down to Angel Grove Hospital and used the scrambling device that Zedd had given to hide his appearance as he was not allowed into Tommy's room.

He went up to Tommy's bed and noticed that he was asleep. He was happy to note Charlotte was not in the room. He took out his sword and looked at Tommy trying to decide where to start. Should he just finish him off swiftly or cause him a lot of pain first? He decided he better do the former, as he didn't have that much time.

He grabbed Tommy by the hospital gown and took the sword out. He was about to stab Tommy.

Tommy opened his eyes drowsily and saw Jason holding the sword. "Jason?"

Jason's arm started to shake.

_Finish him! _A voice in his head said.

Jason's arm steadied again and the sword was raised higher.

"Jason don't." Tommy begged as he tried to push Jason away. He was having a hard time as the sedative he was given earlier was still in effect.

_Finish him now! _

Jason shook his head trying to clear it. Something inside of him was telling him this was wrong. Very wrong. He was having a hard time fighting the voice in his head telling him to kill Tommy.

He couldn't kill his best friend.

_Now! _

"Jason!" A voice yelled and he was tackled to the ground. 

Jason struggled to turn around and saw that the person who tackled him was Zack.

"Zack teleport him to the Command Center." Trini instructed.

Zack and Jason were gone in a flash of light. Trini went up to Tommy and started examining him.

"I'm okay Trini." Tommy said quickly. "You guys arrived before he could do anything."

"What's going on here?" A nurse asked coming into the room. "Someone reported hearing yelling. Did you have another nightmare Tommy?" She asked.

"Yeah." Tommy said thinking it wasn't a total lie. This whole thing was a nightmare.

***

Zack stood aside watching as Alpha ran a scanner over Jason who was behind a force field.

"Zordon the spell is gone." Alpha said as soon as the scan was done.

"That's not what it looked like to me."

"I wasn't going to..." Jason's voice shook. "I MEAN came so close to it...I could have killed him if Zack didn't show up."

"JASON THE SPELL THAT YOU WERE UNDER WAS POWERFUL. YOU ARE LUCKY TO HAVE BROKEN THROUGH IT. I AM GRATEFUL THAT YOU DID."

Jason powered down and handed the coin to Alpha who promptly destroyed it.

"WE WILL NEED TO OBSERVE YOU TO MAKE SURE THERE IS NO LASTING EFFECTS FROM THE SPELL." Zordon continued.

Jason could only nod. He still couldn't believe what he had almost done. Cutting off a finger was one thing, but almost killing your best friend was another.


	22. Trap

Jason stared up at Zordon still unable to believe what he had almost done to his best friend. He couldn't believe he let Zedd trick him, spell or not.

"Jason you can't let what Zedd did get to you." Zack said seemingly reading his mind. "That was the spell's fault."

"But I could have killed Tommy!" Jason said. "If you hadn't stepped in when you did…"

;

"ZACK IS CORRECT JASON." Zordon said. "YOU WERE UNDER A POWERFUL SPELL. BE THANKFUL YOU WERE ABLE TO BREAK THROUGH THE SPELL WHEN YOU DID."

"I cut Tommy's finger off! I could have injured him much worse."

"But he wasn't Jase, he'll be okay." Zack said trying to reassure Jason.

"He won't be okay. Rita and Zedd did something to his brain. They took away his self confidence. It's why he's so afraid to be the White Ranger again."

Zordon didn't like to correct him but he knew he had to. "JASON THIS IS FAR MORE COMPLICATED THEN THAT. IT IS NOT ALL PSYCHOLOGICAL. THEY DID ALTER HIS BRAIN CHEMISTRY."

Jason was not relieved with that news. It meant Tommy's problem could not be fixed and that was something he did not want to accept.

The alarms started to go off. The viewing globe turned on and Zack, Jason, and Alpha turned to face it. Goldar was enlarged and firing on Angel Grove High School. The school was already on fire.

"JASON WE WERE ABLE TYO REPAIR THE TIGERZORD MORPHER. I WILL CONTACT THE OTHER RANGERS AND HAVE THEM JOIN YOU."

Jason took the morpher from Alpha and said, "It's Morphin time! Tigerzord!" He teleported out of the Command Center and called for the Tigerzord as soon as he landed.

Zack looked at Zordon and said, "I should probably get back to Angel Grove. Trini's waiting for me."

Zordon nodded and teleported his former Ranger away.

***

Tommy opened his eyes and noticed there was something lying on his bed. He turned around and saw a very familiar sword. A sword he had used as the Gray ranger. Jason had been here? He wondered. He started to swing his feet over the side of the bed but stopped when he saw something outside of his window. Did I just see t he Tigerzord? He wondered. He wished he had his communicator right then.

"Tommy?" Nurse Amber asked coming into the room. He turned his attention toward her. "Oh good you are awake. We have moved the tests to six o'clock tonight. We will be serving you dinner in a few minutes. We have also notified your parents." She said and left the room.

Tommy looked out the window again and saw the fight and moved away from his window. He wished he knew who was piloting the Tigerzord and was glad that the morpher had been fixed not that he had any intention of using it. His days as a Power Ranger were over. He wished everyone else would realize that.

***

The fight was lengthy and the school had suffered massive damage. They were all relieved to know there was no one in the school this time. They powered down. Kimberly, Aisha, Rocky, Adam, and Billy were surprised to see Jason. Last they had heard he was still under a spell.

"Jason are you really back?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. The spell was broken right before I almost killed Tommy." He looked down at the ground not wanting to see the looks on his friends' faces."

"Jason whatever you may or may not have done to Tommy was most certainly not your fault." Billy said quick to reassure one of his oldest friends.

"Yeah." Kimberly said. "Think of all the times we went through this with Tommy."

Jason shook his head. "Tommy didn't almost kill someone." He saw Billy start to protest and he held up a hand to stop him. "I am not counting the fight in the Dark Dimension. I know he could have killed me during the fight but this is different. He's not a Power Ranger at this time. He was completely defenseless in the hospital. He wouldn't have been able to fight back." His eyes widened as he realized something. "I left the sword at the hospital."

"Come on." Rocky said. "We better get it before someone finds it."

Everyone prepared to teleport, everyone except Jason that is.

"I'm not allowed near Tommy remember? I'm going to go talk to Zordon," he said before teleporting to the Command Center.

The others teleported to a secluded area near the hospital. They walked inside and took the elevator to Tommy's room. They walked in and found it empty.

The searched the hospital room for the sword and found it hidden in a drawer. Aisha picked it up and could almost feel the darkness radiating from it. Adam, who was standing near the door, gave her a nod and she teleported away with the sword.

***

In the Command Center, Jason and Aisha watched as Alpha destroyed the sword. Jason felt a strange sensation go through him before he dropped to one knee. "What's happening?" He gasped out before he passed out.

"Ai yai yai!" Alpha exclaimed looking down at Jason. He ran a scanner over him. "The Gray Ranger powers are leaving him. " He said setting down the scanner and calling up a bio bed. With Aisha's help, they placed Jason on the bed.

"Leaving him?" Aisha asked. "Tommy did not have this reaction when the Gray Ranger powers left him."

"THAT IS CORRECT AISHA." Zordon answered her. "HOWEVER WHEN TOMMY RETURNED TO US, THE COIN HAD NOT BEEN DESTROYED. THERE WAS STILL THE

POWER IN HIM. ALPHA BRING TOMMY UP ON THE VIEWING GLOBE. I WANT TO MAKE SURE HE IS NOT HAVING A REACTION LIKE JASON IS."

Tommy appeared on the viewing globe inside of a CAT scan machine. All the readings from the monitors appeared normal.

"PERHAPS WHEN ZEDD GAVE JASON THE GRAY RANGER COIN, THE POWERS LEFT TOMMY COMPLETELY."

"What exactly are the doctors going to find?" Aisha asked turning away from the viewing globe.

"Most likely what we found." Finster said as he entered the main chamber. "They won't know what to make of it of course. We don't know what to make of it. It's very hard to tell what Zedd and Rita have done to Tommy."

"You were a part of it weren't you?" Aisha asked. "Didn't you say you were the one who tortured Tommy?"

"Yes but I did not cause the changes to Tommy's brain chemistry. Only Rita and Zedd know what was done."

"Yeah and they aren't exactly going to tell us." Jason grumbled sitting up on the bio bed already starting to feel better. The power drain had stopped.

There was a flash of light as the other Rangers appeared in the Command Center.

"School's closed for a week while they repair the damage that Goldar caused." Rocky informed Aisha and Jason.

"It wasn't nearly as damaged as it was after the fire." Adam agreed. "It will be fixed quickly according to the news."

The communicators started going off and they all looked up at Zordon wondering what was going on.

"ALPHA PATCH THE MESSAGE THROUGH ON THE MAIN COMMUNICATOR." Zordon ordered.

Zack's voice came through. "Guys," his voice sounded hoarse. "Tommy's…"

They then heard Rita's cackle. "Hello Rangers! If you want to see the former Black and Yellow Rangers again, you will bring the former White Ranger to Angel

Grove Park." She cut off communication.

The Rangers looked at each other.

"Is Tommy still going through testing?" Jason asked.

Alpha brought Tommy up on the viewing globe. He was back in his hospital room.

"What was Zack trying to say about Tommy?" Kimberly asked. "And why would they take them?"

"ALPHA PLEASE DO A SCAN AND MAKE SURE TOMMY ISN'T IN ANY DANGER." Zordon ordered. He, like his Rangers, had a bad feeling about this.

Alpha finished his scan. "Tommy's alone in his room."

Jason frowned before turning to Zordon. He didn't like this at all. This had to be a trap. What kind of trap he wasn't sure. "Zordon we need to save Zack and Trini but we can't bring them Tommy." The others nodded in agreement. It was a tough position for them to be in. They knew they had to come up with a plan and fast.

"ALPHA PLEASE TELEPORT TOMMY UP HERE."

Jason got off the bio bed as he knew that would be where Alpha would teleport him. A few minutes later, Tommy was in the Command Center.

"What's going on?" Tommy asked sitting up on the bio bed.

"Rita and Zedd have Trini and Zack." Jason informed him. "They said we need to bring you to the park if we want them back."

Tommy swung his legs on to the other side of the bio bed and stood up. "Let's go."

"Whoa Tommy," Kim said placing a hand on his shoulder. "This is probably a trap."

"It doesn't matter." Tommy said we need to help them."

"TOMMY IT GOES AGAINST MY BETTER JUDGEMENT TO ALLOW YOU TO GO DOWN TO ANGEL GROVE PARK, HOWEVER I SEE WE HAVE NO OTHER CHOICE."

"It's morphin time!" Jason yelled. "Tigerzord!"

"Masterdon!" Adam called.

"Pterodactyl!" Kim called.

"Triceratops!" Billy called.

"Saber tooth Tiger!" Aisha called.

"Tyrannosaurus!" Rocky called.

Tommy stood there watching as they morphed. Part of him wished he could morph but he knew he couldn't.

They teleported down to the park.

Rita, Rito, and a squadron of Tengas were standing there waiting.

"You got what you asked for," Tommy said taking a step away from the others. "Now give us back Trini and Zack."

"Foolish former Ranger." Rita said shaking her head at Tommy. "They are right behind you."

They turned but no one saw anything.

They heard a startled yelp and turned around to see Rito had a hold of Tommy and was holding a sword at his throat


	23. What They Want

Notes: The end is near on this fic. But be on the lookout for the third fic, Tarnished Gold after Faded is finished. Also please do not be confused by the zords. It was my oops for messing up the time continuum. Last chapter and prologue of Tarnished Gold will hopefully be posted later today. I'm exhausted.

Tommy struggled to get out of Rito's grip but was having no luck. Rito had taken him by surprise. Rito wasn't that smart and he kicked himself for letting his guard down.

"Rita," Tommy said as he got an arm free. "You got what you wanted. Let Zack and Trini go!" He said as he flipped Rito away from him. He rejoined the others.

"We haven't gotten what we want." Rita said twirling her wand. "Tengas attack!"

The birds attacked and Rita and Rito stood watching. Tommy knew they were up to something, what he didn't know at the moment. He had to stay focused in case they tried it again or something else.

"Tommy duck!" Jason yelled. Tommy hit the ground and heard a thud. He turned around to see Goldar holding his arm with Saba right next to him. Tommy picked up Saba and was about to give it back to Jason when something caught his eye. He swung Saba back and hit something.

"Tommy no!" Adam yelled.

Tommy turned around and saw someone lying on the ground with a bleeding leg. It took him a minute to realize who it was.

"Trini?" He whispered leaning down to examine her.

"Ah!" He yelled as pain went through his back. He dropped Saba and saw Rita standing t here with her wand still pointed at him.

"Pathetic." She said preparing to hit him with another blast of energy. Tommy held the saber up hoping to block the blast. Rita fired and Tommy felt nothing but pain and then the familiar feeling of being teleported away.

***

Alpha was preparing two bio beds as he knew he had two injured teens heading his way. Trini landed first and then Tommy. Trini was holding her leg which had a large cut on it. Tommy was lying on his stomach unconscious with angry looking burns on his back. Alpha decided to treat Trini first. He started wrapping her leg and gave her an injection for the pain.

"Thanks Alpha." She said as she watching Alpha go over to Tommy and started tending his wounds.

"WHERE IS ZACK?" Zordon asked.

"I have no idea. I was teleported down to the park only seconds before Tommy slashed me with Saba. Zordon he had no idea it was me when he did it. I don't know what Rita was trying to do."

"They are just minor burns." Alpha said after finishing with Tommy's wounds. "He'll be fine."

Finster, who had been watching the fight on the viewing globe, turned to Zordon. "It appears to me that Rita and Zedd are trying to take advantage of his unstable mental health."

"I AGREE. THEY WERE TRYING TO KEEP TOMMY DISTRACTED. THIS TROUBLES ME GREATLY. TOMMY COULD HAVE BEEN SERIOUSLY INJURED OR EVEN KILLED."

Trini looked up at Zordon. "Zack was trying to warn you before Rita grabbed the communicator. They weren't planning to capture Tommy."

"They want me dead." Tommy said in a strained voice. "It's been their plan since I broke out of their control. They won't stop until I'm dead." Tommy sat up and grimaced as pain went through his back. He ignored the pain as he stood up.

"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?" Zordon asked though he had a pretty good idea where Tommy was going.

"I need to go back to Angel Grove Park. We need to get Zack back and they will only do it if I'm there." He then did something he decided to never do again.

"Ninjetti! Falcon!" He was in his white Ninjetti costume. He was still in a lot of pain but he was going to do this.

"TOMMY I CAN NOT ALLOW YOU TO GO DOWN TO ANGEL GROVE PARK. YOU ARE INJURED."

"Zordon it's my choice. I'm going to go down there and end this once and for all." Tommy teleported out before Zordon could stop him.

Tommy landed behind Rita and did a movement with his hands and had Saba which had been where he left him. What he was going to do with Saba, he wasn't sure at the moment.

Rita spun around and looked shocked to see him. "Tommy?"

"Surprised to see me?" He asked. "Now where's Zack?" He demanded.

"That's something you don't need to know Tommy." Rita said. "Are you ready to join us again?"

"That's not what you want and we both know it." Tommy said feeling his temper rise.

"Oh, really?" She asked.

Tommy felt his instincts kicking in. He swung around and saw Zack but behind Zack was Lord Zedd. He pushed Zack aside and hit Lord Zedd with Saba. Zedd was surprised by this and didn't move out of the way in time.

Tommy swung around and hit the Tenga that was behind him. He dropped down to the ground and as expected the Tengas were confused. He appeared behind the Tenga and kicked it away.

He was starting to feel the pain in his back and knew he wasn't going to last long. "Alpha," he said into his communicator, "teleport Zack out of here."

"Wait Tommy! There's something you need to know!" But it was too late he was gone in a flash of white light.

The other Rangers had disposed of Rito and the Tengas and soon joined Tommy.

Zedd took something from behind his back and hit a button. Tommy's hands flew to his ears as he tried to block out the sound. The other Rangers didn't know what to make of it. Tommy demorphed and lay there on the ground.

Jason grabbed Saba and ran at Zedd. He kicked the machine out of his hand and stepped on it.

"No!" Rita yelled.

"We'll be back." Zedd said and teleported away.


	24. Farewell

The Rangers teleported to the Command Center after Rita and Zedd left. Tommy was still trying to clear his head from whatever Rita and Zedd had used against him. Whatever they had used, had apparently worked. He had lost all of his concentration and his ears were still ringing a little.

"Tommy are you okay?" Kimberly asked upon seeing the pained expression on his face.

"I'll be okay," Tommy said with a grimace, "as soon as my ears stop ringing."

"That was what I was trying to warn you about." Zack said. "I overheard Rita and Zedd talking about it on the moon."

"It was most likely tuned to whatever they did to your brain chemistry as none of us were effected." Billy surmised.

Tommy's eyes got wide as he remembered something. "I need to get back to the hospital! They must be wondering where I am."

"I WILL TELEPORT YOU THERE IMMEDIATELY." Zordon informed him.

***

Tommy was very happy to see that he was in a deserted part of the hospital. The only problem was, he didn't know where in the hospital he was.

He walked down the corridor and saw he was at least on the correct floor. He quickly came up with a plan to explain his disappearance.

"Tommy!" Cory yelled running as fast as toddler legs would allow him. Tommy picked up his little brother and carried him to where their parents were waiting.

"Tommy where have you been?" His mother demanded. "We have been looking all over the hospital for you."

"I went for a walk and got lost." Tommy said hoping the excuse was better then it sounded. He decided to change the subject. "Have the test results come in?" He asked as he set Cory on the floor.

His parents hesitated before his father said, "yes. Let me go inform the nurse that you have been found so that the doctor can come talk to you." Ryan walked away. Cory, Charlotte, and Tommy, entered Tommy's hospital room. Tommy sat on the bed but did not lie down.

Ten minutes later, Ryan and the doctor entered the hospital room.

"Well Tommy," the doctor started, "we have the test results of the CAT scan. There been a few changes, but we cannot be certain as we have nothing to compare the scan with. However, I do not see it causing any major problems. I do suggest that you start seeing a psychiatrist and start taking gingko to help with your memory. Do you have any questions?"

Tommy shook his head and the doctor left the room. Tommy turned to his parents. "Do I have to see Dr. Taylor?"

His parents exchanged looks before his mother said, "no Tommy. Your father has some news for you."

Tommy wasn't sure he was going to like whatever his father was going to say. The way his parents hesitated, worried him.

"I have accepted a teaching job at the Police Academy in Napa California. We will be moving there as soon as possible."

Tommy was not ready for that announcement. "Napa? Dad that's so far away from Kim and my friends."

"Tommy," his mother said, placing a hand on his good arm, "your father and I think it would be best for all of us to get away from Angel Grove. Your doctor thinks it will help you recover. After everything that's happened, we truly believe it's for the best.

Tommy couldn't believe this. His parents were forcing him to leave Angel Grove? He loved Angel Grove! "I don't want to leave Angel Grove."

"Tommy it's been decided. We have already been in contact with a realtor and we hope to be moving within a week. We know you don't want to move, but after awhile, you'll realize it's for the best." Ryan was about to turn away but stopped. "We do have news that we know you will like. "You are being released from the hospital as soon as we sign a few papers."

Tommy was happy to hear that, though he was not happy with everything else he had just been told.

"Cory," Charlotte said, "why don't you help Tommy pack while we finish the paperwork?" His parents left them alone in the hospital room. Tommy packed the few items in his room, wondering how he was going to tell his friends? How was he going to tell Kim?

***

Tommy packed the last box in his truck. He still couldn't believe it had been a week since he was released from the hospital. Most of his teachers had been surprised to hear that he was moving as were his friends. The only good thing that had come out of all of this was that Rita and Zedd had stopped going after him. It appeared that they were satisfied with him moving away from Angel Grove.

He turned to his friends who were standing there. "I'm going to miss you guys." He said feeling tears start to go down his face. He'd been friends with Billy, Jason, and Kimberly, since he moved to Angel Grove a year and a half ago.

"You a re still planning to come back for Spring Break right?" Aisha asked.

"My parents are still saying no. They want me to stay away from Angel Grove completely."

"We'll come visit you then." Adam promised.

Tommy smiled. "That'd be great." He saw the rest of his family was in the mini van with a U Haul attached to it. They were waiting. He hugged all of his friends before pulling Kim aside for a private farewell.

"I still can't believe you are leaving," she said hugging Tommy again.

He leaned in and kissed her. "I love you beautiful."

He got in his truck and followed his parents and brother out of Angel Grove. He did not look back.


End file.
